Trailer Hitch for Body Lift

[espnfreak]

I think 95XLT fit a 31" spare with his hidden hitch, hopefully he will reply

 

[taxx]

Well the four door explorers come stock with a full size spare. But instead of re-inventing the unused area under the sports they put a smaller spare under there even for stock tires. I used mine once when I was at stock hieght and blew a firestone on the highway and it sucked beyond belief. But back to the discusion at hand. A 31" may fit if you "modify" some metal under there. I thought it would and when I took off my hitch to put one under there it wouldn't fit. WAY too big. My sugestion would be to try it with one of your wheels now to see what you could do to make it fit. You may find that yours is just different enough from mine to fit. I use the cheesy tire around town, and put a full size up top for road trips!

 

[Robert]

Actually even the 4-doors came with the small sized spare when equipped with 16" tires until '98. the back of the Explorer is the same from the rear axle to the rear bumper (going by eyeballs, not rulers). I plan on trying my 265 75R16 again tomorrow with my hitch off. If it won't fit, then I will go down to Discount Tire and have them start trying different sizes to see how big I can go. I'm sure I can at least go larger than my current 215 70R15 spare with the hitch off. When my hitch is on, even my small spare rubed the hitch in two places.

 

[taxx]

Originally posted by Robert
Actually even the 4-doors came with the small sized spare when equipped with 16" tires until '98. the back of the Explorer is the same from the rear axle to the rear bumper (going by eyeballs, not rulers). I plan on trying my 265 75R16 again tomorrow with my hitch off. If it won't fit, then I will go down to Discount Tire and have them start trying different sizes to see how big I can go. I'm sure I can at least go larger than my current 215 70R15 spare with the hitch off. When my hitch is on, even my small spare rubed the hitch in two places.

yeah you are probably right. I was comparing to a 98. Good luck. But also remember you go with a larger tire, you are going to lose clearance, but at least you have a spare!

 

[Robert]

That is why I'm thinking of a 31"x9.5" if they even make it. I want a tire that is as close in diameter to my current tires, but about an inch narrower. The only clearance I would loose is the difference in width between my new spare and my old 225. There are still other things on the bottom that will hang a lot lower than my spare will, like my gas tank, differential, etc.

 

[taxx]

Just keep an eye on your departure angle, if that concerns you.

 

[justin146]

My spare is a 265/75/15. It is supposed to be a 31x10.5 but in reality is like a 31x9.5. I dont have a hitch though. It looks like there would be room under there for one.

 

[Robert]

Actually your 265 is more like a 10.5" tire since 254 mm = 10". I know there is no way I can get a tire larger than my temorary spare under mine with my hitch. My spare already rested up against the hitch in two places and couldn't be repositioned. Now that my hitch is off, I should have some more room.

 

[Robert]

Well there is no way I could get my 265 tire underneith. I even hammered on the metal piece towards the front that the tire rests up against. It would not fit between the metal piece and the rear cross-member. It either hang down at the front or the back by about 3". It looked very similar to a Rodeo's spare. We placed a 31x10.5 next to my 265s and the size didn't look different enough to let it fit so I settled on a 30x9.5 which fit fine. It is about 1/2" from my tail pipe, but I am going to get it re-bent next week anyway to put it up closer to my rear bumper. the 30x9.5 splits the difference between my old spare and my new tires.

 

[taxx]

sounds like a plan. When I tried a 265 under there it was the same deal. Actualy, the sway bar was in the way. But atleast you have something better now!

 

[snafu]

Trailer hitch Idea`s-No prob`s

Trailer hitch Specialist`s-
What`s you`re problem..?

So after reading all the articles about TRAILER HITCH`s , and since i work for SEALAND RV in Vancouver Area.. i thought we might be able to help..

First i would like to say that : cutting/drilling/welding of any hitch should be done by PROFESSIONALS.

If you have an Explorer with a body lift , and you wanna keep what ever you`re towing ,level with the Tow vehicle you might wanna try a "DROP" mount . which will lower the ball heigth to what ever measurement ya need.measure on level ground to the top of the coupler ( on trailer-while it is level to the ground). do the same to find out where the ball is to be located on the TOW vehicle the difference will be the "DROP" you need.

`beat`s the heck outta choppin the hitch ya got now , voiding all manufacturer`s warranties.
we deal with D.S.P. and Hidden Hitches , both have different hitches for different applications , like the bigger tires ya just bought , finding out it won`t fit underneath , cause the hitch is in the way.....

or call me at Sealand Rv Richmond BC(604)278-4322
we also do custom hitches.....and bike racks etc...

 

[mahieber]

I am going to go with these guys. They said they can build it to accomodate the 3 " body lift.

Dead Link Removed

 

[taxx]

Re: Trailer hitch Idea`s-No prob`s

Originally posted by snafu
Trailer hitch Specialist`s-
What`s you`re problem..?

So after reading all the articles about TRAILER HITCH`s , and since i work for SEALAND RV in Vancouver Area.. i thought we might be able to help..

First i would like to say that : cutting/drilling/welding of any hitch should be done by PROFESSIONALS.

If you have an Explorer with a body lift , and you wanna keep what ever you`re towing ,level with the Tow vehicle you might wanna try a "DROP" mount . which will lower the ball heigth to what ever measurement ya need.measure on level ground to the top of the coupler ( on trailer-while it is level to the ground). do the same to find out where the ball is to be located on the TOW vehicle the difference will be the "DROP" you need.

`beat`s the heck outta choppin the hitch ya got now , voiding all manufacturer`s warranties.
we deal with D.S.P. and Hidden Hitches , both have different hitches for different applications , like the bigger tires ya just bought , finding out it won`t fit underneath , cause the hitch is in the way.....

or call me at Sealand Rv Richmond BC(604)278-4322
we also do custom hitches.....and bike racks etc...

We aren't looking for the right towing hieght. What we are looking for is a hitch that will mount tight against our bumper to avoid having that gap (as seen in the picture on this post) and to keep it as far off the ground as possible to keep our departure angle as great as possible. Problem with a professional doing it, is that everyone is afraid to modify a hitch for liability reasons. I would be more than willing to buy one made for this purpose, but until then I will have to make due. I am going to re-drill and then have someone better at welding than I weld it, too.

 

[01EB5.0]

I got a P265/70R16 fullsize spare under my truck with the hidden hitch square tube (95 model) hitch and it fits. Sure it takes some work, but it's under there. The trick is let the air outta the tire and cram it in there. i carry a 12 volt airpump under the back seat in the event of a flat. you simply lower the tire, pump it up and your good to go. The tire has clearence from the sway bar and from the shocks. i take it down every few months because I do a 5 tire rotation so the tire won;t get messed up from being crammed in there for years and years. If i can fit it....anyone can! (I can;t believe it when I saw a small temp. tire under the 96 eddie bauer my dad brought home from work....you dont runa temp tire on a SUV...especially not a 4WD SUV with limited slip....thats just asking for trouble) Anyway I can get pics if you guys wanna see my tire under there. it also does not make my ground clearence any less. it fits even with the bottom of the hitch so offroading with it under there is no problem.

 

[taxx]

I got it on this weekend. I have a before picture somewhere I will find it when I get to work. But here are the pics of the hitch with the brackets trimmed and welded and bolted to the frame! I have been beating it up to see if it will budge and it is holding up great!

 

[taxx]

another pic

 

[Lifted95X]

Wheres your rear tow hooks??

 

[CBoug76]

Ray do you mean this?

Dead Link Removed

 

[Lifted95X]

RAY?!?!?

How are they mounted??

 

[CBoug76]

Sorry Shaun! but is that waht you are talking about???